Vehicle display system, vehicle display method, and storage medium storing vehicle display program

ABSTRACT

A setting unit is configured to, when the image content is to be displayed across the display screens of the plurality of display devices with the non-display area therebetween, set a display area including a duplicated area in which the image content is partially duplicated and to be displayed on the display screens of the plurality of display devices. A determination unit is configured to determine whether the image content includes a specific content represented by character/symbol information or image-recognized character/symbol information. A duplicated display processing unit is configured to, on determination of the determination unit that the image content includes the specific content, set a duplication width of the duplicated area based on a width of the specific content and display the image content of the duplicated area on the display screens of the plurality of display devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation application of InternationalPatent Application No. PCT/JP2022/015568 filed on Mar. 29, 2022, whichdesignated the U.S. and claims the benefit of priority from JapanesePatent Application No. 2021-073380 filed on Apr. 23, 2021. The entiredisclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle display system, a vehicledisplay method, and a storage medium storing a vehicle display program.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, displays such as liquid crystal displays and organic ELdisplays are required to be enlarged so that a large amount ofinformation can be viewed at once.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle displaysystem configured to display a unitary image content on display screensof a plurality of display devices arranged side by side with anon-display area therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1A is a diagram of an appearance configuration of a cockpit systemin a first embodiment;

FIG. 1B is part 1 of a diagram of a configuration and a control image ofa PtoP display;

FIG. 1C is part 2 of a diagram of the configuration and the controlimage of the PtoP display;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a vehicle displaysystem;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of hardwareand software;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart schematically showing contents of processing;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an image content;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a duplication width of display areasdisplayed on adjacent displays;

FIG. 7 is part 1 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 8 is part 2 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 9 is part 3 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 10 is part 4 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 11 is part 5 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 12 is part 6 of a diagram of an example of a display mode in asecond embodiment;

FIG. 13 is part 7 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 14 is part 8 of a diagram of an example of a display mode;

FIG. 15 is part 9 of a diagram of an example of a display mode; and

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a configuration schematically showing hardwareand software in a modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, examples of the present disclosure will be described.

According to an example of the present disclosure, a display device,such as a liquid crystal display and an organic EL display is used toenable viewing of a large amount of information. On the other hand,there is also a demand for displaying one large image.

According to an example of the present disclosure, one image is dividedand displayed using two display units. In order to eliminate a sense ofincongruity in human vision, when displaying one image using two displaydevices respectively provided with display units, it is assumable toinstall an auxiliary display device at a position between these displaydevices to display an image that complements the images displayed onrespective display units. In such manner, the continuity of connectionof one image divided into these two displays, that is, the seamlessfeeling may be provided.

In a configuration where a plurality of display devices are arrangedside by side and used as one display device, a non-display area iscaused between the plurality of display devices due to structuralrestrictions. If a character or a pattern is cut/split into two, i.e.,is divided by a non-display area caused/therebetween, the character orthe symbol may not be understood at a glance. Therefore, time to stareat the screen of the display device may extend, and more time may berequired, for imagining/guessing the character or the symbol drawn onthe screen. When a driver drives a vehicle, such a situation would beun-desired and dangerous because the time spent looking aside divertsdriver's attention away from driving.

According to an example of the present disclosure, a vehicle displaysystem is configured to display a unitary image content on displayscreens of a plurality of display devices arranged side by side with anon-display area therebetween. The vehicle display system comprises asetting unit configured to, when the image content is to be displayedacross the display screens of the plurality of display devices with thenon-display area therebetween, set a display area including a duplicatedarea in which the image content is partially duplicated and to bedisplayed on the display screens of the plurality of display devices.The vehicle display system further comprises a determination unitconfigured to determine whether the image content includes a specificcontent represented by character/symbol information or image-recognizedcharacter/symbol information. The vehicle display system furthercomprises a duplicated display processing unit configured to, ondetermination of the determination unit that the image content includesthe specific content, set a duplication width of the duplicated areabased on a width of the specific content and display the image contentof the duplicated area on the display screens of the plurality ofdisplay devices.

In such manner, the image content of the duplicated area correspondingto the duplication width can be displayed on the display screens of theplurality of display devices, thereby allowing the vehicle occupant tounderstand the specific content that is duplicated and displayed at aglance, and appropriately providing information to the vehicle occupant.

Several embodiments of a vehicle display system 1 will be described inthe following with reference to the drawings. In the followingdescription, the same reference numerals are given to substantially sameportions according to the embodiments.

First Embodiment

The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 10. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the vehicle display system 1 includes acockpit system 4 including a plurality of display devices such as apillar-to-pillar display 2, a center display 3 and the like. It is notedthat, the number of display devices, the installation situation, and theconfiguration are only examples, and the present disclosure is notlimited to the above. Hereinafter, the pillar-to-pillar display 2 isalso referred to as a PtoP display 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the PtoP display 2 is configured such thata plurality of displays 2 a are arranged side by side and to have ahorizontally large length. Each of displays 2 a of the PtoP display 2 iscomposed of a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or thelike, and is a large display provided on a dashboard between a leftpillar and a right pillar of the vehicle. The PtoP display 2 isconfigured to be able to display various image contents R such as meterimages, images captured by a peripheral camera 23, entertainment imagessuch as still images and moving images, map images around the currentposition in full graphic display.

The center display 3 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay or an organic EL display, and is installed at a position betweena driver's seat and a passenger's seat and below the PtoP display 2, asshown in FIG. 1A. The center display 3 is provided at the proximity of acenter console so that both of the driver and the vehicle occupant in anavigator seat can easily view it, and can display various contents. Anoperation panel 21 is provided above the center display 3, and it ispossible to perform input operations such as selecting contents to bedisplayed on the PtoP display 2, operating air conditioning, operatingaudio devices, and operating navigation functions.

The PtoP display 2 is installed side by side with the center display 3in the vertical direction. When two screens are installed side by sidein the vertical direction, it is possible to increase the area that thevehicle occupant can recognize at once. Further, in the cockpit system4, the display screen of each of the displays 2 a of the PtoP display 2is installed so as to be positioned further away from thedriver/navigator than the display screen of the center display 3. Eachof the displays 2 a of the PtoP display 2 has a black belt-like frame 2b as its outer frame. Since the frame 2 b is provided to surround thedisplay screen, it forms a non-display area Rz (see FIG. 6 , and thelike).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2 , a large number of ECUs 5 areconfigured in the vehicle, and are connected to an in-vehicle network25. The ECUs 5 include a display system ECU, a periphery monitoringsystem ECU, a travel control system ECU, and a DCM that communicateswith an outside of the vehicle. The DCM is an abbreviation for datacommunication module. The travel control system ECU includes awell-known vehicle control ECU, an engine control ECU, a motor controlECU, a brake control ECU, a steering control ECU, an integrated controlECU, and the like. The travel control system ECU includes an automateddriving ECU. The automated driving ECU may also be an autonomous drivingelectric control unit.

When an automatic control signal is input, the automated driving ECUdrives a driving actuator to execute a corresponding, predeterminedlevel of driving assistance and automatic driving. For example, in thedriving support of level 1, an automatic braking operation to avoidcollisions with obstacles, a follow-up driving operation that followsthe preceding vehicle, or a lane-departure prevention driving operationthat controls the vehicle so that it does not stray across laneboundaries on both sides is performable. In the automated driving oflevel II, the following is performable, e.g., a combination of thedriving supports of level 1, or an automatic driving mode, which is anautomatic driving in a specific condition, such as an automaticovertaking of a slow vehicle in an expressway, a merging to and anexiting from the expressway and the like. Here, in the automated drivingof level II, the driver has an obligation of monitoring the automateddriving. In the automated driving of level III and above, the systemperforms all driving tasks while monitoring the system by itself.

Each of the ECUs 5 includes, as primary components, a microcomputerhaving a processor, a cache memory, various storage units 6 such as aRAM, and a ROM, an I/O, and a bus connecting the above. Each of the ECUs5 is communicably connected to other ECUs 5 provided in the vehiclethrough a communication control unit 7 and the in-vehicle network 25.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, a plurality ofdisplay system ECUs 5 constitute an HCU serving as an informationprocessing device 10. The display system ECUs 5 shares the processingcapacity of its internal physical resources, and performs displayprocessing for an image display on the displays 2, 3, and the like, inwhich, for example, as shown in FIG. 1C, display processing is performedseparately by an ECU 5 for a display 2 a. The HCU is an abbreviation forhuman machine interface control unit. Although showing a configurationin which the display system ECUs 5 are also connected to the in-vehiclenetwork 25, the ECUs 5 may be connected by a dedicated line. The storageunit 6 described above is a non-transitory, tangible storage medium fornon-transitory storage of computer readable programs and data. Thenon-transitory, tangible storage medium may be implemented by asemiconductor memory or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the information processing device 10 includes acontrol device 11, a calculation device 12, the storage unit 6, adisplay processing unit 13, a sound processing unit 14, an I/O controlunit 15 for managing input to or output from various devices, thecommunication control unit 7 for managing communication with other ECUs5, and a wireless control unit 16 configured by connecting an antenna 16a to enable wireless connection with other mobile terminals 27 bywireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). Here, a configurationis described in which output signals of primary components such as aposition detector 19, a vehicle interior camera 20, the operation panel21, an vehicle occupant monitor 22, the peripheral camera 23, and adistance detection sensor 24 shown in FIG. 2 are provided as signalsthat are input to the information processing device 10 through the I/Ocontrol unit 15, signals may also be input from other ECUs 5 such as theperiphery monitoring system ECU, the travel control system ECU and thelike through the in-vehicle network 25.

The wireless control unit 16 establishes a communication link with themobile terminal 27 carried by a vehicle occupant. The informationprocessing device 10 waits for an incoming call to the mobile terminal27, and when the mobile terminal 27 receives an incoming call from theother party and answer the incoming call, the information processingdevice 10 performs a hands-free call with the other party through aspeaker 18 and a microphone 17 via the mobile terminal 27. Further, theinformation processing device 10 can perform voice recognition on avoice input through the microphone 17.

Under the control of the control device 11, regarding the contents ofimages, sentences, characters, or symbols (hereinafter referred to asimages, or the like) stored in the storage unit 6, the calculationdevice 12 (A) calculates the display areas of the display screens on thedisplays 2 and 3, (B) calculates (i) which one of the display areas ofthe display screens on the displays 2 and 3 to use for the display ofthe contents of the images, and the like, or (ii) which of the displayareas of the display screens on the displays 2 and 3 to use for theduplicated display of the contents of the images, and the like, and (C)outputs the contents of the images, and the like to the control device11. Herein, the symbol is a general term for not only the originalmeaning of the symbol, but also the contents such as traffic signs thatare represented by icons, and more specifically indicates information tobe displayed on the displays 2 and 3 other than image, sentence, text orthe like.

The display processing unit 13 displays contents such as images, and thelike on the display screens of the displays 2 and 3 under the control ofthe control device 11. On the display screens of the displays 2 and 3,contents such as images, and the like can be superimposed and displayedfor each of display layers.

Under the control of the control device 11, the sound processing unit 14receives a reception voice input from the microphone 17, and outputs atransmission voice from the speaker 18. When contents such as a sentenceand/or a character are input from the control device 11, the soundprocessing unit 14 converts them into voice, reads them out loud throughthe speaker 18 for the output.

The position detector 19 detects a position with high accuracy using awell-known GNSS receiver such as GPS (not shown) and an inertial sensorsuch as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor or the like. The positiondetector 19 outputs a position detection signal to the control device 11through the I/O control unit 15. A position identification unit 11 a ofthe control device 11 realizes a function as an ADAS locator thatsequentially measures a current position of the vehicle with highaccuracy based on map information input from a map data input device andthe position detection signal of the position detector 19. ADAS is anabbreviation for advanced driver assistance systems.

The map data input device is composed of a non-volatile memory or thelike, and stores map data including various data such as link data, nodedata and the like. The link data includes link identification data thatidentifies links that form roads on the map, link length data thatindicates a length of the links, link orientation data that indicates anorientation of the links, link traveling time data that indicates timerequired for traveling the link, node coordinate data that indicates thecoordinates of nodes forming a start and end points of the link, linkattribute data that indicates attributes of road, and the like. The linkattribute data includes the character/symbol information, indicating,(a) prefecture names and city names M1, road symbols M2 by iconsincluding information on national roads and prefectural roads, and townnames M4.

The node data includes various types of data, such as (a) nodeidentification data that identifies a node existing on the map, (b) nodecoordinate data that indicates the coordinates of the node, (c) nodename data that indicates a name of the node, (d) node type data thatindicates a type of the node such as an intersection, or the like,connecting link data that identifies a link connected to the node.Further, the map data described above is also associated withcharacter/symbol information in which facility names M3 such as a parkand the like is described with identification information such as acharacter code or the like. The display processing unit 13 can generatethe image content R of a map of an arbitrary location based on these mapdata, and can also generate the image content R that includes a part orall of the aforementioned character/symbol information. Note that thesize, vertical width, and horizontal width when the display processingunit 13 displays the character/symbol information is determined asfollows: town names M4<facility names M3<road symbols M2<city names M1.

A vehicle position obtained by navigation processing is represented in acoordinate system consisting of latitude and longitude, and in suchcoordinate system, for example, the X axis indicates longitude and the Yaxis indicates latitude. It should be noted that the measurement of thevehicle position may be performed in various manners, such as, forexample, a method based on travel distance information obtained from asensing result by a vehicle speed sensor mounted on a subject vehicle,as long as a position of the subject vehicle is identifiable.

The operation panel 21 is a touch panel configured on a predetermineddisplay, e.g., on the center display 3, and the I/O control unit 15receives an operation input from the passenger, and outputs theoperation input to the control device 11. The control device 11 executescontrol based on operation signals from the operation panel 21. Forexample, when a vehicle occupant inputs a destination to the operationpanel 21 while a navigation application, which will be described later,is being executed, the control device 11 causes the display processingunit 13 to display a map screen while executing navigation processingthat provides guidance for the user from the current position of thesubject vehicle to the destination.

At this time, the vehicle occupant can, for example, operate theoperation panel 21 while the vehicle is stopped to give an instructionto move display areas R1 and R2 (see FIG. 6 ) of the map, or to give aninstruction to change the scale. Upon receiving an instruction throughthe control device 11, the display processing unit 13 moves the displayareas R1 and R2 in the image content R, and/or enlarges or reduces thesize of the display areas R1 and R2 to change the scale of the map. Insuch manner, a map can be set to display an arbitrary area such as aproximity of the current position where the subject vehicle is presentor a proximity of the destination, and the scale of the map display canalso be changed.

The vehicle occupant monitor 22 detects the state of the vehicleoccupant in the vehicle or the operation state thereof. The passengermonitor 22 is configured using, for example, a power switch, a vehicleoccupant state monitor, a turn switch, an automatic control switch, andthe like, and outputs various signals to the control device 11. Further,the vehicle occupant monitor 22 may include a steering sensor thatdetects whether the steering wheel is being gripped or steered by thedriver, a seating sensor that detects whether the driver is seated, anaccelerator pedal or brake pedal depression sensor, and the like.

The power switch is turned on by a user in the vehicle compartment inorder to start an internal combustion engine or an electric motor, andoutputs a signal corresponding to the operation. The vehicle occupantstate monitor includes a camera that detects the state of the vehicleoccupant in the driver's (D) seat or the passenger's (P) seat byphotographing the state of the vehicle occupant with an image sensor,and outputs an image signal. The vehicle occupant state monitorregarding a driver is designated as DSM. The DSM is an abbreviation fora Driver Status Monitor. The vehicle occupant state monitor obtains animage signal obtained by irradiating a head/face of the driver withnear-infrared light and capturing an image, analyzes the image asnecessary, and outputs the signal to the control device 11. The vehicleoccupant state monitor is used to detect the state of an vehicleoccupant such as a driver, especially during driving assistance orautomatic driving. The turn switch is turned on by an vehicle occupantinside the vehicle to activate a blinker of the vehicle, and outputs aturn signal for turning right or left according to the operation.

The automatic control switch outputs an automatic control signal inresponse to the vehicle occupant operation when the vehicle occupant inthe vehicle compartment executes an on operation in order to instruct anautomatic control of the driving state of the vehicle. Based on thesignal from the vehicle occupant monitor 22, the control device 11 candetermine a behavior of the vehicle occupant, e.g., which direction theline of vehicle occupant sight is directed, and can also have an inputthereto regarding the operating state of the power switch, the operatingstate of the blinker, and the instruction information of the automaticcontrol of the vehicle.

The peripheral camera 23 including a front camera that images a frontfield of the vehicle, a back camera that images a rear field of thevehicle, a corner camera that images a front and rear sides of thevehicle, or a side camera that images a side of the vehicle, anelectronic mirror and the like serves as a periphery monitoring sensor,respectively outputting image signals to the control device 11 throughthe I/O control unit 15 as a front guide monitor, a back guide monitor,a corner view monitor, a side guide monitor, and the electronic mirror,and the image signals are stored in the storage unit 6. Thecommunication control unit 7 is connected to thein-vehicle network 25such as CAN, LIN, or the like, and performs communication control ofdata exchange with other ECUs 5.

Further, the distance detection sensor 24 for detecting a distance to anobstacle is installed in the vehicle as a periphery monitoring sensor.The distance detection sensor 24 includes a clearance sonar, a LiDAR, amillimeter wave radar, and the like, and detects vehicles, people,animals, fallen objects on the road, guardrails, curbs, trees, and thelike approaching toward the front of the vehicle, the front side part ofthe vehicle, the rear side part of the vehicle, the rear of the vehicle,or the side part of the vehicle. The distance detection sensor 24 canalso detect an azimuth to the obstacle and the distance to the obstacle.Further, with the above-mentioned periphery monitoring sensor, it ispossible to detect road markings, such as traffic lane lines, stoplines, and pedestrian crossings painted on the road around the subjectvehicle, traffic signs such as a “stop” sign painted on the road, a stopline painted at a boundary of an intersection, and the like.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a hardware and software configuration of theinformation processing device 10. SoCs 30 and 31 are mounted on ECUs 5and 5 a, respectively, and the above-described microcomputers are builtinto the mounted SoCs 30 and 31, respectively. The built-inmicrocomputers in the SoCs 30 and 31 of the ECUs 5 are configured toexecute various applications 33 (hereinafter abbreviated as apps 33) ona pre-installed, general-purpose OS 32, such as LinuxOS (Linux is aregistered trademark). The SoC is an abbreviation for System On Chip.

The application 33 includes an image processing application 34, anavigation application, and other applications. A processor built intothe SoC 30 performs a drawing process in response to a drawing requestfrom the image processing application 34, to draw an image on thedisplay screen of each display 2 a of the PtoP display 2.

On the other hand, since the ECU 5 a is provided for drawing a meter, asymbol 5 a is given. On the microcomputer built into the SoC 31 of theECU 5 a, a real-time OS 35 capable of processing with higher real-timeperformance than the general-purpose OS 32 is installed, and a meterapplication 36 is operated on the real-time OS 35. Note that thefollowing description may focus on the applications 33 such as the imageprocessing application 34 and the meter application 36.

The meter application 36 notifies the user of a vehicle speed, thenumber of revolutions, warnings, and the like, and draws the imagecontent R of a meter in a specific display area of the PtoP display 2.For example, the meter application 36 draws an image content R such as aspeedometer, a tachometer, a shift range position state, a warning lightand the like. The speedometer includes a speed image whose display needsto be updated in real time to show changes in the speed of the vehicle.Similarly, the tachometer is also included in the meter image becausethe display needs to be updated in real time to show changes in thenumber of revolution.

A content to be drawn by the meter application 36 can also be displayedon other displays, such as the center display 3, for example. Thecontent to be drawn by the meter application 36 is required to haverelatively high real-timeness than the content drawn by otherapplications.

The application 33 includes a navigation application. The navigationapplication implements the navigation function described above, anddraws the image content R such as a navigation screen including a mapand a current position of the vehicle, and the like mainly on the PtoPdisplay 2 or the center display 3.

Also, the application 33 includes an image synthesizing application. Theimage synthesizing application identifies the sizes and types of variousimage contents R to be displayed on the display device, synthesizes apart of the image contents R in one frame, and outputs this synthesizedmixed image to the PtoP display 2 or the center display 3. The imagesynthesizing application implements a function as an image synthesizingunit, which may also be called as a compositor, and a function as animage output unit.

Display layers for drawing the image content R are assigned to theapplication that draws the image content R among the applications 33 and36. These display layers are reserved on the storage unit 6 in a sizecapable of drawing the required image content R.

Also, the image content R displayed on the PtoP display 2 and the centerdisplay 3 can be displayed as animated. Here, the animation operation isa display mode in which a position and a size of an image indicating thecontent gradually change, the rotation of the image, a move of a userinterface as a whole along with a swipe operation, fade-in or fade-outof the image, a color change of the image, and the like.

The control device 11 executes various processes by executing theapplication 33. Further, the display processing unit 13 also implementsfunctions as the setting unit 13 a, the determination unit 13 b, and theduplicated display processing unit 13 c of the present application byexecuting various applications 33.

The action and operation of the above configuration will be describedwith reference to FIG. 4 and subsequent drawings. The informationprocessing device 10 causes the display processing unit 13 to displayvarious contents on the PtoP display 2 and the center display 3, whichmay be (a) a display processing for a display of a single content on thedisplay screen of one of the displays 2 a in the PtoP display 2, or (b)a display processing for a display of a single content on the seconddisplay screen of the center display 3, or (c) a display processing fora display of a unitary image content R extending across the displayscreens of the multiple displays 2 a of the PtoP display 2 arranged sideby side and adjacent to each other in the lateral direction.

When the information processing device 10 displays the unitary imagecontent R over the display screens of the adjacent, multiple displays 2a, the visibility is degraded due to the frames 2 b existing in betweenthe display screens of the multiple displays 2 a. Refer to thenon-display area Rz shown in FIG. 6 . At this time, continuous images orsentences cannot be displayed across the multiple displays 2 a,resulting in discontinuous display, and the continuity of display is notmaintained. Therefore, the information processing device 10 performsdisplay processing as shown in FIG. 4 so as not to make the vehicleoccupant feel incongruity.

A specific example of a case where the information processing device 10activates the navigation application and displays a large map on themultiple displays 2 a will be described in the following. When the powerswitch is operated by the vehicle occupant, the control device 11activates the navigation application in S1 of FIG. 4 . The controldevice 11 reads the image content R of the map around the currentposition from the map data input device, and prepares and sets it in awork area of the storage unit 6 in S2 of FIG. 4 .

A case where the image content R shown in FIG. 5 is prepared will bedescribed. As described above, the map data read from the map data inputdevice to the work area of the storage unit 6 contains character/symbolinformation as character/symbol contents. The character/symbolinformation includes identification information such as character codesrepresenting prefecture names and city names M1, road symbols M2 ofnational roads and prefectural roads, facility names M3 such as parks,and the like.

The display processing unit 13 generates the image content R including amap and the character/symbol information based on the map data in S2 ofFIG. 4 . Further, in S3 of FIG. 4 , the display processing unit 13 setsthe display areas R1 and R2 based on the operation information (forexample, display position and scale) input from the operation panel 21by the vehicle occupant. The display areas R1 and R2 are set so as topartially include a duplicated area Ra where the image content R ispartially duplicated, as shown in FIG. 6 . The duplicated area Raindicates an area of the image content R that is partially duplicatedand to be displayed on each of the display screens of the adjacent twoof the multiple displays 2 a. A duplication width W of the duplicatedarea Ra is set to a predetermined default value in an initial stage.

In S4, the display processing unit 13 determines whether or not theimage content R includes character/symbol contents as a specific contentusing the determination unit 13 b. If the image content R does notcontain the character/symbol contents, the display processing unit 13determines NO in S4, and holds the duplication width W of the duplicatedarea Ra in S5. The default value is held unchanged in this example.

Then, in S11, the display processing unit 13 divides an image into thedisplay areas R1 and R2, such that each of the display areas R1 and R2includes the duplicated area Ra, and outputs the images of the displayareas R1 and R2 to the adjacent multiple displays 2 a. Then, the imagecontent R of the duplicated area Ra can be displayed on both of thedisplay screens of the multiple displays 2 a. At this time, inparticular, the display processing unit 13 displays, on both thedisplays 2 a, the image contents R in the duplicated areas Ra,respectively, to be positioned close to each other in an area includingor extending across the non-display area Rz. Therefore, the continuityof the images displayed on the multiple displays 2 a can be maintainedas much as possible, and the incongruity to be felt by the vehicleoccupant is reducible.

On the other hand, when the determination unit 13 b determines that thecharacter/symbol contents are included, the display processing unit 13displays the image content R in the duplicated area Ra on both of thedisplay screens of the adjacent displays 2 a, after causing, in S6 toS12, the duplicated display processing unit 13 c to set the duplicationwidth W of the duplicated area Ra based on the width of thecharacter/symbol contents.

Specifically, first, when the display processing unit 13 determines inS4 that the character/symbol contents are included in the image contentR, the display processing unit 13 determines the width M of thecharacter or symbol in S6, i.e., determines whether the width M iswithin a predetermined width that is equal to or greater than a lowerlimit value Wmin and equal to or less than an upper limit value Wmax.The lower limit value Wmin is a predetermined width corresponding to awidth of one character for representing the facility name M3. The lowerlimit value Wmin is set, for example, to a width corresponding to thewidth of each character of “PARK B” as shown in FIG. 5 . The upper limitvalue Wmax is a predetermined width corresponding to the width of a roadsymbol M2 such as a national road, and is set to a width correspondingto the horizontal width of an icon representing the national road 23shown in FIG. 5 , for example.

The display processing unit 13 sets the duplication width W of theduplicated area Ra to the width M of the character/symbol contents in S8on condition that the duplicated display processing unit 13 c determinesthat the width M is within the predetermined width. Then, in S11, thedisplay processing unit 13 outputs, to the adjacent multiple displays 2a, the image contents R of the display areas R1 and R2, which aredivided, and each including the duplicated area Ra.

On the other hand, when the duplicated display processing unit 13 cdetermines that the width M is equal to or greater than the upper limitvalue Wmax of the predetermined width, the display processing unit 13determines YES in S9, and sets, in S10, the duplication width W of theduplicated area Ra to the upper limit value Wmax, and outputs, in S11,the divided images to the respective displays 2 a. Further, when theduplicated display processing unit 13 c determines that the width M isequal to or less than the lower limit value Wmin of the predeterminedwidth, the display processing unit 13 determines NO in S9, and sets, inS12, the duplication width W of the duplicated area Ra to the lowerlimit value Wmin, and outputs, in S11, the divided images to therespective displays 2 a. In this way, the duplication width W of theduplicated area Ra can be suppressed to the predetermined width withinWmin≤W≤Wmax, thereby to prevent adjusting the duplication width Wwithout a limitation.

Specific examples are given in FIGS. 7 to 10 . FIG. 7 exemplifies adisplay screen displaying an image content R including, only as thecharacter/symbol information, a town name M4. Further, FIG. 8exemplifies a display screen displaying an image content R including thetown name and a facility name M3. Also, FIG. 9 exemplifies a displayscreen displaying an image content R including the town name, thefacility name, and a road symbol M2. FIG. 10 exemplifies a displayscreen displaying an image content R including the town name, thefacility name, the road symbol M2, and a city name M1.

As described above, the upper limit value Wmax is predeterminedcorresponding to the width of the road symbol M2, and the lower limitvalue Wmin is predetermined corresponding to the width of one characterof the facility name M3. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7 , when thedisplay processing unit 13 displays a part of the image content Rincluding, only as the character/symbol information, the town name M4 onthe respective displays 2 a, since the width M of one character of thetown name M4 is less than the lower limit value Wmin, the image contentR of the display areas R1 and R2 including the duplicated area Ra havingthe duplication width W set to the lower limit value Wmin is displayedon the respective displays 2 a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8 , the display processing unit 13 displaysthe image content R including the town name and the facility name M3 onthe respective displays 2 a. In this case, the duplication width W isset to the width of one character of the facility name M3 having thelargest width among the characters of the town name M4 and the facilityname M3. Further, the image content R of the display areas R1 and R2each including the duplicated area Ra is displayed on the respectivedisplays 2 a. Further, as shown in FIG. 9 , the display processing unit13 displays the image content R including the town name, the facilityname, and the road symbol M2 on the respective displays 2 a. In thiscase, the duplication width W is set to the width of the road symbol M2having the largest width among the characters and the symbol of the townname, the facility name, and the road symbol M2. Further, the imagecontent R of the display areas R1 and R2 including the duplicated areaRa is displayed on the respective displays 2 a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10 , the display processing unit 13 displaysthe image content R including a city name M1 on the respective displays2 a. In this case, the width M of one character of the city name M1exceeds the upper limit value Wmax. Therefore, the duplication width Wis set to the upper limit value Wmax. Further, the image content R ofthe display areas R1 and R2 including the duplicated area Ra isdisplayed on the respective displays 2 a.

Each of FIGS. 7 to 10 shows an example in which at least a part of thecharacter/symbol contents is included in the duplicated area Ra for theease of understanding of the contents of the present disclosure. Notethat, the character/symbol contents used to set the duplication width Wmay be various characters and symbols existing in the image content Rhandled by the vehicle display system 1 in the present disclosure. Thedisplay processing unit 13 can change the duplication width W accordingto the size of the various character/symbol contents present in theimage content R.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the determiningunit 13 b determines whether or not the image content R includes thecharacter/symbol contents representing the character/symbol information,and when the determining unit 13 b determines that the character/symbolcontents are included therein, the duplication width W of the duplicatedarea Ra is set by the duplicated display processing unit 13 c based onthe width of the character/symbol contents. Further, the image content Rof the duplicated area Ra is displayed on both of the display screens ofthe adjacent displays 2 a of the multiple displays 2 a. In such manner,the image content R of the duplicated area Ra having the duplicationwidth W can be displayed on both of the display screens of the multipledisplays 2 a. Therefore, the vehicle occupant can understand thecharacter/symbol contents displayed in a duplicated manner at a glance.Accordingly, information can be appropriately provided to the vehicleoccupant.

Further, when the width M of characters and symbols included in theimage content R is within a predetermined width, the duplication width Wcan be changed according to the size of the character/symbol contents,thereby preventing a cut/division of a character/symbol in the middlefor the display on the multiple display screens. By preventing thedisplay of the divided character(s) and symbol(s) being cut and dividedon the display 2 a, the vehicle occupant can understand the charactersand symbols one by one at a glance. Moreover, the duplication width Wcan be changed according to the size of one character or the size of asymbol corresponding to an outer frame encompassing the symbol, forexample, thereby preventing uselessly displaying two or morecharacter/symbol contents in a duplicated manner. In such manner, it ispossible to reduce the feel of incongruity of the vehicle occupant, andto appropriately provide information to the vehicle occupant.

Further, even when the width M of the character or the symbol includedin the image content R exceeds a predetermined width, the duplicationwidth W is set to the upper limit value Wmax or the lower limit valueWmin, thereby preventing adjusting the duplication width W withoutlimitation. In such manner, the sense of incongruity felt by the vehicleoccupant is reducible, and information can be appropriately provided tothe vehicle occupant.

Moreover, since the image content R of the same duplicated area Ra isdrawn on the display screens of the adjacent displays 2 a, the imagecontent R of the same color can be drawn on the respective displays 2 a.In such manner, it is possible to make the vehicle occupant aware of theimage content R included in the duplicated area Ra.

Second Embodiment

The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16. In the second embodiment, a process for displaying the image content Rincluding a sign M5 captured by the peripheral camera 23 on the adjacentmultiple displays 2 a will be described. The image content R shown inFIG. 11 is a moving image content in which the sign M5 captured in theimage looks like oncoming as time elapses. The contents of theprocessing are generally the same as those in FIG. 4 and the descriptionthereof described in the above-described embodiment, and the descriptionwill be made in the following while referring to the step numbers inFIG. 4 .

FIGS. 12 to 15 show the image content R that changes over time andchanges in the display screens of the adjacent displays 2 a. As shown inFIG. 12 , when the distance to the sign M5 is long and the sign M5appears small in the image content R, the size of the sign M5 in theimage content R is also relatively small. Therefore, in S4 of FIG. 4 ,the display processing unit 13 does not recognize the sign M5, which isthe specific content, in the image content R, or determines, in S9, thatthe recognized sign M5 has a width smaller/narrower than the lower limitwidth Wmin. Therefore, the display processing unit 13 holds theduplication width W at the default value, or sets it at the lower limitvalue Wmin, and divides the image, and outputs and displays the dividedimages on the respective displays 2 a. See S1 to S5→S11 or S1 toS4→S6→S7→S9→S12→S11 in FIG. 4 .

Further, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 , as the sign M5 graduallyapproaches, the sign M5 gradually appears larger in the image content Rof the captured image. Then, in S4, the display processing unit 13performs image recognition on the sign M5 to determine that it is thespecific content containing the characters or the symbols (equivalent toimage-recognized character/symbol information), and sets the duplicationwidth W to the width M of the sign M5, the image is divided and outputand displayed on the respective displays 2 a. See S1 to S4→S6 to S8→S11in FIG. 4 . At this time, when the size of the sign M5 appearing in thecaptured image gradually increases, the duplication width W alsogradually increases accordingly.

Further, as shown in FIG. 15 , when the sign M5 approaches theperipheral camera 23, the sign M5 largely appears in the image content Rof the captured image. Then, even when the display processing unit 13recognizes the image of the sign M5, the width of the sign M5 exceedsthe upper limit value Wmax. Therefore, the image is divided by settingthe duplication width W to the upper limit value Wmax, and the dividedimages are output to and displayed on the respective displays 2 a. SeeS1 to S4→S6→S7→S9 to S11 in FIG. 4 . That is, as shown in FIGS. 12 to 15, when the sign M5 gradually approaches the peripheral camera 23, theduplication width W gradually increases, but when the width M of thesign M5 increases to the upper limit value Wmax, the duplication width Wbecomes constant at the upper limit value Wmax.

As shown in the present embodiment, even when the image captured by theperipheral camera 23 is subjected to image recognition and theimage-recognized character/symbol information regarding the charactersand the symbols included in the captured image subjected to imagerecognition are treated as the specific content, similarly to theabove-described embodiment, the image content R of the duplicated areaRa can be displayed on both of the adjacent displays 2 a. Therefore, thesame effects as those of the above-described embodiment are obtainable.

Other Embodiments

The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments describedabove, but can further be implemented by various modifications, and canbe applied to various embodiments without departing from the spiritthereof. When, in the first embodiment, the character/symbol informationM1 to M4 (e.g., the town name M4, the facility name M3, the road symbolM2, or the city name M1) is included in the image content R, or when, inthe second embodiment, the character/symbol information M5 (e.g., thesign M5) is included in the image content R, the duplicated area Ra isalways displayed for the display areas R1 and R2. However, theduplicated area Ra does not necessarily have to be always displayed.

For example, when the display processing unit 13 determines whether ornot the character/symbol information M1 to M4 or M5 is included at aposition that overlaps with the non-display area Rz in the image contentR, and in case that the determination results indicate that thecharacter/symbol information M1 to M4 or M5 is included at the positionthat overlaps with the non-display area Rz in the image content R, theduplicated area Ra may be displayed only one of the display areas R1 orR2. Further, in the same manner as described above, when the displayprocessing unit 13 determines that the character/symbol information M1to M4 or M5 is included at a position that overlaps with the non-displayarea Rz in the image content R, the duplicated area Ra itself may bedivided into two at the center or the like, and the divided duplicatedareas Ra may be respectively displayed on the two screens, for example,by setting the display areas R1 and R2 to respectively include thedivided (i.e., half) duplicated areas Ra. In such manner, unnecessaryredundant display can be suppressed, and the display can thus be moreeasily/readily understood by the vehicle occupant.

Further, as described above, the display processing unit 13 determineswhether or not to display the duplicated area Ra by determining whetheror not at least one of the character/symbol information M1 to M5 isincluded at the position that overlaps with the non-display area Rz. Inthis case, the duplicated area Ra may not be displayed in case that theduplicated area Ra includes only the character/symbol information M1(for example, the city name M1 in FIG. 10 ) having a width exceeding theupper limit value Wmax. This is because the width of thecharacter/symbol information M1 is sufficiently large with respect tothe width of the non-display area Rz, which is considered as a situationin which the vehicle occupant can fully understand the informationindicated by the character/symbol information M1 without providingduplicated display by using the duplicated area Ra. In such manner,unnecessary redundant display can be suppressed, and the display canthus be more easily/readily understood by the vehicle occupant.

The width M of a character or the like to be compared with theduplication width W may be the width of a unitary (i.e., one body) namecontent, instead of the width of the one character or the width of theone symbol. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the imagecontents are illustrated as in FIG. 7 . In this example, the width M ofthe one character “T”, which is a part of “TOWN E1” in the town name M4,is used as a comparison target. Instead, the whole town name “TOWN E1”may be used as the comparison target width M. Similarly, in case of thecontents illustrated in FIG. 8 , the width M of one character “R” in thefacility name “PARK B” is used as a comparison target. Instead, a wholefacility name “PARK B” may be used as the comparison target. The sameapplies to the road symbol M2, the city name M1, and the like.

In the above-described embodiment, an implementation is shown in whichthe duplication width W is set for the duplicated display on thehorizontally-arranged displays 2 a when displaying on multiple displays2 a arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the above. For example, as shown inFIG. 1A, there is a non-display area between the multiple displays 2 and3 arranged in the vertical direction because the displays are separatedfrom each other. Therefore, the duplication width W may also be set whenthe display screens of these displays 2 and 3 are duplicated anddisplayed.

In the second embodiment, the sign M5 whose size gradually changes inthe image content R is treated as the specific content. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the above. For example, based on anoperation of the operation panel 21 by the vehicle occupant to changethe scale of the map screen, the display processing unit 13 may generatethe image content R with a changed character size and display the imagecontents on the respective displays 2 a with the changed character size.The present disclosure is applicable to this case. That is, even in sucha case, by changing the duplication width W of the duplicated area Ra,the same effects as in the above-described embodiment are achievable.

In the above-described embodiment, the display system ECU 5 isconfigured by a plurality of ECUs 5, but the display system ECU 5 may beconfigured by one ECU 5 as an HCU. FIG. 16 shows an example of shardware and software configuration in such a case. An SoC 230 ismounted on each of the ECUs 5, and a microcomputer is built into the SoC230 mounted on each of the ECUs 5. The microcomputer built into the SoC230 of the ECUs 5 has the general-purpose OS 32 and the real-time OS 35configured on a hypervisor 231. The various types of multipleapplications 33 are configured to operate on the general-purpose OS 32.Also, the real-time OS 35 can perform processing with higher real-timeperformance than the general-purpose OS 32. The meter application 36 isconfigured to operate on the real-time OS 35. Even in such a case, thesame configuration and effects as those of the above-describedembodiment are achievable.

In the drawing, 2 is a PtoP display, 2 a is a display, 2 b is a frame(non-display area), 13 is a display processing unit, 13 a is a settingunit, 13 b is a determination unit, 13 c is a duplicated displayprocessing unit, R1 and R2 are display areas, Ra is a duplicated area,and Rz is a non-display area.

The method of the present disclosure implemented by the control unit 11and the display processing unit 13 may be realized by a dedicatedcomputer provided by configuring a processor and a memory programmed toperform one or more functions embodied by a computer program. Further,the control device 11, the display processing unit 13 and the method ofthe present disclosure may also be realized by a dedicated computerprovided by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardwarelogic circuits. Further, the control device 11, the display processingunit 13, and the method of the present disclosure may also be realizedas one or more dedicated computers provided by a combination of (i) aprocessor and a memory programmed to perform one or more functionsembodied by a computer program and (ii) a processor with one or morededicated hardware logic circuit. The computer program may be stored, asinstructions to be executed by a computer, in a computer-readable,non-transitory, tangible storage medium. The present disclosure has beendescribed in accordance with the embodiments. However, it is to beunderstood that the present disclosure is not limited to suchembodiments and structure. The present disclosure covers variousmodification examples and equivalents thereof. Further, variousmodes/combinations, with one or more elements added/subtractedthereto/therefrom, may also be considered as the present disclosure andunderstood as encompassing the technical thought thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle display system configured to display aunitary image content on display screens of a plurality of displaydevices arranged side by side with a non-display area therebetween, thevehicle display system comprising: a setting unit configured to, whenthe image content is to be displayed across the display screens of theplurality of display devices with the non-display area therebetween, seta display area including a duplicated area in which the image content ispartially duplicated and to be displayed on the display screens of theplurality of display devices; a determination unit configured todetermine whether the image content includes a specific contentrepresented by character/symbol information or image-recognizedcharacter/symbol information; and a duplicated display processing unitconfigured to, on determination of the determination unit that the imagecontent includes the specific content, set a duplication width of theduplicated area based on a width of the specific content, and displaythe image content of the duplicated area on the display screens of theplurality of display devices, wherein the duplicated display processingunit is configured to, when the width of the specific content is equalto or greater than an upper limit value of a predetermined width, setthe duplication width of the duplicated area to the upper limit value ofthe predetermined width, and the duplicated display processing unit isconfigured to, when the width of the specific content is equal to orless than a lower limit value of the predetermined width, set theduplication width of the duplicated area to the lower limit value of thepredetermined width.
 2. The vehicle display system according to claim 1,further comprising: a second duplicated display processing unitconfigured to, on condition that the width of the specific content isequal to or less than a predetermined width, set the duplication widthof the duplicated area to the width of the specific content.
 3. Thevehicle display system for a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein thesecond duplicated display processing unit is configured to, ondetermination of the determination unit that the image content includesa plurality of specific contents including the specific content, set, asthe duplication width of the duplicated area, the width of the specificcontent having a largest width among the plurality of the specificcontents.
 4. The vehicle display system according to claim 1, whereinthe specific content is a character/symbol content represented by thecharacter/symbol information.
 5. A vehicle display method for displayinga unitary image content on display screens of a plurality of displaydevices arranged side by side with a non-display area therebetween, thevehicle display method comprising: setting a display area including aduplicated area in which the image content is partially duplicated andto be displayed on the display screens of the plurality of displaydevices, when the image content is to be displayed across the displayscreens of the plurality of display devices with the non-display areatherebetween; determining whether the image content includes a specificcontent represented by character/symbol information or image-recognizedcharacter/symbol information; setting, on determination that the imagecontent includes the specific content, a duplication width of theduplicated area based on a width of the specific content; setting, whenthe width of the specific content is equal to or greater than an upperlimit value of a predetermined width, the duplication width of theduplicated area to the upper limit value of the predetermined width;setting, when the width of the specific content is equal to or less thana lower limit value of the predetermined width, the duplication width ofthe duplicated area to the lower limit value of the predetermined width;and displaying the image content of the duplicated area on the displayscreens of the plurality of display devices.
 6. A storage medium storinga vehicle display program to display a unitary image content on displayscreens of a plurality of display devices arranged side by side with anon-display area therebetween, the vehicle display program including aset of instructions to set, when the image content is to be displayedacross the display screens of the plurality of display devices with thenon-display area therebetween, a display area including a duplicatedarea in which the image content is partially duplicated and to bedisplayed on the display screens of the plurality of display devices,determine whether the image content includes a specific contentrepresented by character/symbol information or image-recognizedcharacter/symbol information, set, on determination that the imagecontent includes the specific content, a duplication width of theduplicated area based on a width of the specific content, set, when thewidth of the specific content is equal to or greater than an upper limitvalue of a predetermined width, the duplication width of the duplicatedarea to the upper limit value of the predetermined width, set, when thewidth of the specific content is equal to or less than a lower limitvalue of the predetermined width, the duplication width of theduplicated area to the lower limit value of the predetermined width, anddisplay the image content of the duplicated area on the display screensof the plurality of display devices.